The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-09-02
An Inquiry From Canada Answered.

An Inquiry From Canada Answered.
The Montreal Witness publishes a column
of stuff under the head of Southern Barba-
| lisin," and sends a marked copy of the
paper containing the article to the MORN
ING NEWS. In a note accompanying the
paper the Witness wants TO know what the
MORNING News has to say about it. 1t
would require altogether too much space TO
! review the entire article. It puiports to be
written by Mr.. S. W. Powell, and, as in
most of such articles, it contains little
truth and great deal of Misrepresentation
For instance, the writer says that the ''col-
ored people do not expect to get justice i'll
the courts at the South in criminal cases,
especially when white man is against
them" To illustrate his meaning, the
writer presents the following alleged case:
Zone of the best and most quiet colored
boys in Savannah happened to be present
when a street disturbance broke out. As
his parents and Sunday school teacher had
told him to do, he started for home at once.
A drunken white rowdy knocked him down,
"a policeman arrested him as soon as he got
up, and his father could only procure his re-
lease by paying S25. A white lawyer of
standing advised the payment of this, al
though he admitted that there was no JUS
tice in it, saying that an appeal in such a
case would never be considered on its
meritS.n
The writer must be mistaken about the
facts in this case, even if such case ever
occurred. The impression that it is intended
to create is that it occurred lately. If the
boy was arrested by policeman in connec-
ton with street disturbance he was. of
course, taken before the Mayor, and
it is certain that neither the present
Mayor, who is an able lawyer,
and who has been in Office sew
eral years, nor any of his predecessors.
ever fined a colored boy $25 under the cir
cumstances alleged above. In fact it is safe
to say that no colored boy was ever required
by the Mayor to pay a fine for permitting
himself to be knocked down. The com
plant may have been made that the Mayor
is rather disposed to be too lenient with the
offenders who are brought before him, but
it is doubtful if anybody ever charged him
with discriminating against the colorod Of
Tenders. He doesn't recognize the color line
III administering justice.
1t is probably true that it is more difficult
to convict white man of murder or other
heinous offenses than a colored man.
The reason that coiored men charged
with grave offenses do not escape
punishment so easily as white men,
who are charged with similar offenses,
is not because there is prejudice against the
ls,% &bo
have more influence, and are, as rule,
much more ably defended.
1t does not seem to be understood at the
North and in Canada that at the South the
colored people are the lowest class of So
ciety. That class, in all parts of the world,
whatever its color may be, has less consid-
GRAFTON shown it, and is less likely to secure
justice than the classes above it. In New
York, Massachusetts, or Canada, does not
the bank President, who robs his bank of
thousands of dollars, stand better chance
to escape punishment than the tramp who
enters house and steals a few dollars? In
the city of New York there are dozens of
people from the slums sent to Jail, or the
penitentiary every day, for offenses of one
kind or another, aud yet Jacob Sharp is not
in the penitentiary, although many thous-
ands of dollars have been spent in trying to
send him there.
In the South there is no disposition to dis
criminate against the colored people in the
courts, and there is no prejudice against
them. A larger percentage of those of them
charged with crime than of white people
charged with crime is convicted
because they are less able to de-
fend themselves. The same thing
is true with respect to the lowest and higher
classes in every Northern State The
things which the Montreal Witness calls
Southern Barbarisms" it will find in some
shape in every country i'll the world Why
is it that people will go so far from home to
find something to condemn when there is SO
much 30 arouse their indignation at their
very doors: